The company is offering everything from car marketing services to using a crowdfunding platform through its eBay-like retail site Taobao to allow business owners to raise capital from the site's users.

They are cornerstones of the economic, political and social landscape: Part one of a series looks at how these conglomerates -- like Samsung, LG and Hyundai -- saved South Korea from crushing poverty and defined a country's role on the global stage.